An Eclectic Journal of Opinion, History, Poetry and General Bloviating

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Your Mellow and Groove Made Possible by Columbia’s LP

Columbia's first pop 10" LP album

Columbia
Records introduced their revolutionary new Long Playing Record format on this date
in 1948. Played at 33⅓ rpm, less than half the speed of the industry standard 78 rpm, the new disks were pressed in
soft vinyl instead of hard shellac with a narrow groove. They could hold up to 20 minutes of music per
side and when played with an improved stylus
reproduced music clearly and with less distortion from surface noise.

There were antecedents
to the long playing format, notably the discs used in the Vitaphone motion picture sound system in the 1920’s and the 16”
electronic transcription discs for radio broadcasting beginning in 1930. Originally recorded on shellac, Columbia
introduced vinyl pressing in 1930 and other companies experimented with other
plastics.

Columbia released one
hundred titles simultaneously in two formats in 1948. Twelve inch discs were intended for long form
classical music, opera, and Broadway scores. Popular music was released on 10” disks
usually with three songs to a side. By catalog
number the first pop album was a re-release of a previous 78 album set, The Voice of
Frank Sinatra.

Despite the need of
many to upgrade their phonographs to
play the new disks, they were phenomenal success and were soon the industry
standard. Columbia’s success allowed to
eclipse long time dominant RCA Victor.

Victor responded in 1949
by introducing its own new format, 45
rpm also on vinyl. The small disks
could only hold one song no longer than about 3½ minutes of music on each
side. The company expected to package
albums of 45s like they had with 78. The
multi-disc album idea was a bust, but the new format quickly replaced the 78 as
the standard for singles.

Together the two
formats, after Columbia dropped the 10” LP, would rule the recording industry
for 40 years with upgrades including longer content per side on LP that would
allow whole Broadway shows to be recorded, and, of course, the introduction of stereophonic sound and multi-track
recording technology.

Even the introduction
of cheap tape alternatives like eight track cartridge and cassette tapes in the ‘70s mainly
captured the market for play in cars, never an option for discs of any kind,
and on popular portable devices like boom
boxes. In fact, sales of the cheap
tapes often spurred the sales of disk recording to be played on high quality
home audio equipment.

The death knell for the
LP was the one-two punch of technology.
First the new, light weight and easily portable Compact Disc (CD) that
also reproduced sound at high quality—although without the “warmth” of vinyl in
the eyes of some audiophiles. Then the I-pod and downloadable music
was a hand grenade that nearly destroyed the whole recording industry. By the early years of this century, few
albums were being issued in vinyl LP format.

A niche market remained
for club DJs who could better cue
songs from LPs and for Hip Hop DJs
who relied on manipulation—hand spinning disks back and forth—for some of the
signature sounds of rap.

But vinyl LPs have had
a loyal cult following and some artists are now releasing their music again in
the format for a discriminating audience.

But the days so many of
us remember of lining up at record
stores for the release of a hotly anticipated LP by The Beatles or other hot act are now as quaint a memory as the
listening booths in stores of an earlier era where Bobby Soxers picked out the latest tunes on 78 from their Big Band idols.